Kukla's Korner Hockey

Entries with the tag: rob scuderi

Well this took five minutes...Per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Rob Rossi, the Penguins may or may not clear the coaching and managerial decks after yet another playoff failure:

Penguins ownership will consider a sweeping overhaul that could include terminating general manager Ray Shero in addition to Dan Bylsma and the members of the coaching staff, multiple sources told the Tribune-Review. Ownership specifically is concerned about a perceived lack of accountability for players, overall team toughness and unproductive drafts, the sources said.

The sources also said Penguins ownership might not want to undergo a complete front-office shakeup with only about a month before the NHL Entry Draft.

No decisions have been made, and they will not be rushed, the sources said.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were hoping that defenseman Rob Scuderi wasn't too banged-up after colliding with David Clarkson during Saturday night's Leafs-Penguins game, but they received very bad news on Monday evening:

UPDATE: Rob Scuderi has a broken ankle. Will require surgery later this week. No timetable.

Hockey interest in Western Pennsylvania might not be quite on the level of, say, Montreal or Toronto -- places where the psychological well-being of an entire region seems linked to the success of its NHL franchise -- but the Penguins fan base has become as passionate as it is large.

"Besides the geographical differences and weather and stuff like that, I think [the Penguins] are a little higher on the food chain here," Scuderi said Tuesday.

"I thought Los Angeles hockey, in terms of the overall scope of the sport, picked up a lot during my four years there, but, overall, it's still lower on the food chain than basketball, and even the Dodgers when they get good.

"It's a little bit different here in Pittsburgh. There's a little more intensity around it, a little more expectation. Sometimes, it's kind of nice to come back to a place where you know it's going to mean a lot from day one, and that the people expect a lot from day one.

Michael Schuckers likes numbers. Schuckers is an associate professor of statistics at St. Lawrence University and director of the school’s Quantitative Resource Center. Schuckers is also cofounder of Statistical Sports Consulting, where he applies his experience in analytics toward providing numbers-based conclusions in hockey.

There are numbers, however, that Schuckers and some of his peers in analytics do not like. They are 34, 4, and 13.5 million: Rob Scuderi’s age, the number of contract years he received from the Penguins July 5, and his total salary for returning to Pittsburgh.

Of all the signings during unrestricted free agency, the former Boston College defenseman may have landed the biggest head-scratcher.

“That’s the one that sticks out to me this year,” Schuckers said. “Pittsburgh is supposed to be a team that’s fairly analytic. All the analytics I’ve seen suggest he’s well past his prime.”

The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed defenseman Rob Scuderi to a four-year contract, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Ray Shero.

The deal runs through the 2016-17 campaign, and has an average annual value of $3.375 million. Scuderi, 34, re-joins the Pittsburgh organization after spending the past four seasons with the Los Angeles Kings. The defensive-minded blueliner originally played five-plus seasons with the Penguins between 2003-09, helping the team to a Stanley Cup championship in 2009.

No penalty on the play except for Derek Dorsett leavingt the bench and gettting a game misconduct along with Chimera who was yapping with the Kings bench.

added 10/26/09, 6:06am, from Aaron Portzline of Puck-rakers,

This wasn’t a hip check. Maybe it was intended to be, but it wasn’t even close. Scuderi essentially dived at Chimera’s knees, undercutting him and sending him airborn, skates over tin cup one might say.

Chimera’s face landed on the ice and he skidded that way a few feet before his neck crumpled and his body flopped the rest of the way over. It was a scary sight live, and even moreso in slow motion.

“It feels very weird,” Scuderi told ESPN.com after signing the deal. “It’s a weird combination of odd and exciting.”

While he had no desire to leave and wouldn’t have left had the economics of the game and the cap restraints of the Penguins specifically been different, he acknowledged, “it’s kind of exciting to start a new challenge.”

Here’s what I’m hearing on Rob Scuderi. I’m told “4-5 teams” are in the hunt for the solid free-agent blueliner. I’m told the Pittsburgh Penguins will hear again from their camp as a courtesy, but it’s unlikely the team will have enough cap space to match.

The Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman is eligible for unrestricted free agency come July 1 and will definitely get a big raise from the $712,500 salary he brought in this season. His play in the post-season has earned him mentions for the 2010 U.S. Olympic team and though he is a priority for re-signing in Pittsburgh, the Pens don’t have a lot of room left under the cap for next season and sacrifices will have to be made.

So what’s the best move to make if you’re Scuderi? Stay put, sir. You’re literally playing for the best team in the league and with Pittsburgh’s core, that ranking won’t waver too much in the next few years.

Bolting a Stanley Cup champ for greener (as in the color of money) pastures is certainly a nice reward for a job well done, but it certainly hasn’t helped the on-ice careers of those who have made the leap in the past.

At the start of this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, NHL fans in Detroit and Pittsburgh probably could have predicted with confidence that Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin would be at, or near, the top of the scoring race and Nicklas Lidstrom would lead all defencemen in points.

Further from the thoughts of the most ardent fans were the names of Detroit rookie forwards Justin Abdelkader and Ville Leino, along with Pittsburgh defenceman Mark Eaton and forward Craig Adams.

But each contributed on the scoresheet, on special teams, in the faceoff circle or simply with their presence to help the Red Wings and Penguins advance to the NHL championship final for the second consecutive season.